Safe or vault hinge.



No. 679,377. Patented July 30, I911". H. n. HIBBAREL SAFE 0R VAULTHINGE.

(AppuufltiOR filed NQV- 2, 1.90 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Mine sses Inventor; J@% WMMmM/ .Henqy flfiil la rd,

:3 kisAZiorrae yJ No. 679,377. Patehted' July 3o,.|90|.

- H. u HIBBARD. 1 7

SAFE'OR VAULT HINGE.

(Application filed Nov. 2, 1900 J n/ uenior, flewa y 1255550! 7 0;, 3hz'sAflorngy.

(No Model.)

(ii/messes.-

UNiTED Status HENRY D. HIBBARD, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TOTHE HIBBARD, RODMAN, ELY SAFE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFE OR VAULT HHNGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,377, dated July 30,1901. Application filed November 2, 1900. Serial No. 35,196. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY D. HIBBARD, a citizen of the United States,residing in Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safe or VaultHinges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safe or vault hinges, one object being toprovide an improved hinge for supporting the door on the safe or vaultbody.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in connection withmeans for supporting the door on the body, improved means for adjustingthe door relatively to its seat.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in connection withmeans for supporting the door on the body, improved means for limitingthe swinging movement of the door relatively to such supporting means.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide, in connection with thisimproved hinge, improved means for overcoming friction, inertia, andair-pressure of the door and starting such door open after the same isunlocked.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge comprising thefollowing elements, viz: a crane member, improved means for adjustingthe door relatively to its seat, improved means for limiting themovement of the door relatively to said crane member, and improved meansfor starting the door open after it is unlocked.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,Figure l is a front View of one form of safe or vault with this improvedhinge in position. Fig. 2 is a top view of the front of a safe or vaultand of this improved hinge, and Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detail views ofthis improved door-adjusting means.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thedifferent figures of the drawings.

The safe-body 2 is preferably provided with two sets offorwardly-extending lugs or ears 3 for the reception of one or morehinge-pintles and with a doorway for the reception of a door 4. Thissafe-body may be of any desired form or construction, as likewise mayalso be the door. In the form thereof herein shown and which may be itspreferred form, if desired, this improved hinge comprises a crane member5, having bearings or sleeves 6, connected with the ears or lugs 3 ofthebody by a pair of pintles 7. One pint-1e may be used instead of two,if desired. This crane member 5 comprises a pair of forwardly-extendingarms 8, pivotally connected to the door by a pintle 9,extending throughbearings or sleeves 10 of such arms, and lugs or cars 12, projectingforwardly of the door. The forwardlyextending arms 8 project beyond thepivotal point of the crane member with the door and carry the means forstarting the door open, which in the present instance comprises aspindle or rod 13, projecting through bearings 14 of such arms. Mountedadjacent to the ends of this rod 13 is a pair of eccentrically-supportedrolls or disks 15, adapted to engage the body of the safe or vault whenrotated into position for this purpose by a handle or lever 16, securedto such rod, whereby friction, inertia, and air-pressure of the doorwill be overcome and the-door started open. In the present constructionone roll, as the lower one, is shown located at the inner side of onehinge-arm, while the other one, as the upper roll, is located at theouter side of the other hinge-arm.

In large doors it is essential that the outstarting or starting-openmeans be located on extensions of the crane-hinge arms, since in anycase one-man power is supposed to open the safe-door, and consequentlythe larger and heavier the door the greater the leverage the man shouldhave in order not to make this work too laborious. For this reason thepoint of contact of the outstarting eccentrics is carried over byextending the arms of the crane member, so that any pressure broughtupon the safe front or body by the eccentrics will act with an increasedleverage on the door. The point of application of the force to the doorproper is, however, substantially on the center line, as set forth inthe patent hereinafter referred to, so that the door will be startedoutward at all points simultaneously. Furthermore, in very large doorsit would not be practicable to carry the eccentrics on the pin or pintle9, since the friction would be such as to prevent it from working asreadily as if located on an independent shaft, as in the presentcasethat is to say, if the outstarting means is located on the door pinor pintle 9, as in my patent hereinafter referred to, such pin 9 wouldhave to be rotated in order to start the door open, and since this pincarries the door and as this door is suspended at one side of the hingeand is very massive, weighing sometimes as high as four tons, it followsthat the rotation of this pin must be accomplished under the frictioncaused by the great weight of the door, which would be very considerableand such as to render the operation of the door entirely unsatisfactoryand probably impossible by one-man power in the ordinary way.Furthermore, by locating the outstarting means relatively remote to thepin 9 not only is increased leverage obtained, which is essential inlarge doors, but a handle is provided for the swinging of the door afterit has started open. In my patent referred to this handle is shownlocated adjacent to the pintle 9, which is satisfactory for a smalldoor, but would be ineffective for a large door, such as a heavyvault-door weighing, for instance, four tons.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the door is pivotally secured tothe crane member intermediate the starting-open means and the pivotalpoint of such crane memberwith the body, such pivotal connection of thedoor with the crane member being preferably in the present instance in"a line located substantially centrally of the door, whereby although thestarting-open means is located relatively remote from such pivotal pointnevertheless owing to this organization it will start all parts of -'thedoor open at the same time, as just set forth.

For limiting the oscillatory movement of the door relatively to suchcrane member I provide a somewhat diiferent means from that shown anddescribed in my contemporaneouslypending application, Serial No. 16,250,filed May 11, 1900, and which has now eventuated in Patent No. 662,434,dated November27, 1900. In the present instance this means comprises apair of set-screws or devices 20 and 21, preferably locatedsubstantially in alinement on one of the cranearms 8, one screw beinglocated at one side of and the other at the other side of the pivotalconnection of such crane-arm with the door, whereby on adjusting thesedevices the oscillatory movement of the door relatively to its hinge iscontrolled, the given oscillatory movement being usually just sufficientto permit the door to be properly shut and opened.

The provision of a pair of adjusting devices located one at each side ofthe hinge or pintle 9, although not necessarily located in the positionshown in the drawings, is necessary with large doors, since the largerthe door (and conseqently the longer the distance between thehinge-pintles connecting the hinge with the body and with the door) thesmaller will be-the-angnlar motion necessary for the door to have on itshinge-pin in order that the door may be closed and opened properly. Insafes having comparatively small doors the amount of angular motion iscomparatively large, and in practice it is found that it is onlynecessary to provide a means on the outer side of the hinge-pinconnecting the hinge member with the door, since oscillation in theother direction is limited by the door coming in contact with the mainbody of the hinge member. In the door of a large safe or vault, however,as above stated, the angular motion required is small, and as the bossesor lugs for the reception of the hinge-pintles are necessarily large itfollows that the space left for angular motion between the'door whenseated and the body of the hinge is more than is desirable. Fig. 2, forinstance, shows a relatively large space between the part 5 and the faceof the door. Consequently an adjusting device located at some pointintermediate the hinge-pin 9 and the pintle connecting the hinge memberwith the body is necessary, and therefore an adjusting device 21 ispreferablylocated at-theinnerside of the hinge-pin 9 and on one arm ofthe crane member, so as to limit this oscillation in the proper manner.In other: words, owing to the length of the arms of the crane member andto the necessity of having very large bosses or lugs to receive thepintle or hinge-pin 9 when the doors are large it follows that thebosses or lugs carried by the body must project out a comparativelygreat distance from the body of the safe in order to be beyond the planeof the bosses or lugs 12, so as to permit the swinging of the door.Consequently, as above set forth, this leaves a comparatively largespace between the arms of the crane member and the door of the safe whenseated in the jamb, so that some means is necessary to limitoscillation.

For adjusting the hinge, and thereby the door, relatively to its seatmeans cooperating with one of the pivotal connections is provided, andwhich means in the present instance is shown carried by thebearing-sleeve of one of said pivotal connections and comprises aplurality of sets of shiftable or rotatable devices, such as set-screws.In the present instance two setsof such devices 22 and 23 are shown, onecarried by each of the sleeves or bearings 6 of the crane member, oneset of said set-screws being located at the outer side of one sleeve,while the other set thereof is located at the inner side of the othersleeve, the set-screws of each set being shown located at substantiallyan angle of forty-five degrees to the plane of the door or crane member.In the present instance each set of set-screws is shown comprisingeight, the four screws, as a, of the set 22 being located toward theforward side, and the four set-screws, as b, of the same set beinglocated toward the rearward side of their sleeve, while IOC IOC

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the four screws a and the four I) of the other set 23 are located in asimilar manner. The same result, however, can be accomplished by the useof two screws to a set; but when the hinge is a massive one the largernumber is preferable. Each set of these screws engages a circularbearing member orblock 25, intermediate which and the spindle 7 ispreferably located a series of bearings, such as elongated rolls 26,preferably corresponding in length to the width of the sleeve and bymeans of which the movements of the door are rendered freer. By means ofthis improved adjusting means the door can be adjusted in a verticalplane or in a horizontal plane or depthwise of its seat-that is, in adirection transverse of the plane of the door. By adjusting the upper orlower set of screws the door maybe moved to the right or left. Byadjusting one set in one direction and the other in the oppositedirection the door will be raised or lowered without affecting itsposition laterally. By adjusting the upper and lower sets together so asto adjust the bearing-blocks in the same direction the door will beshifted laterally in either direction, and by adjusting the set-screwsof one set-as, for instance, the set a-inwardly and turning the othersetscrews of the same setas, for instance, b outwardly a correspondingdistance (see Fig. 6) the door will be adjusted depthwise of its seat,or in a direction transversely of the plane thereof-that is to say, theplane of the door may be adjusted relatively to its seat. This will beclearly illustrated by an inspection of Fig. 6, from which it will beseen that if the screws a are turned inward while the screws 1) areturned outward, such screws being located at an angle of forty-fivedegrees to the plane of the door, the crane member will be shifted inthe direction of the arrow 0, and thereby carry the door toward itsseat. The reverse of this operation will carry the door outwardlyrelatively to its seat.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the door can be adjusted in anydirection by the same means by merely manipulating the same in a propermanner.

-I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a safe or vault bodyand with a door therefor, of a hinge for said door, and means carried bya bearingsleeve of said hinge for adjusting the door inwardly andoutwardly whereby the plane of the door may be adjusted relatively toits seat and also effective to adjust the door in one plane.

2. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of a hinge for said door, and means comprising set-screws carried by abearing-sleeve of said hinge for adjusting said door in a verticalplane, in a horizontal plane, and inwardly and outwardly whereby theplane of the door may be adjusted relatively to its seat.

3. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a door therefor,of means for supporting said door on said body; and means for adjustingthe door inwardly and outwardly relatively to its seat, and comprisingtwo sets of devices, the devices of each set being located diagonally tothe plane of the door.

4. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a door therefor,of means for supporting said door on said body; and means for adjustingthe door inwardly and outwardly relatively to its seat, and comprisingtwo sets of set-screws, the screws of each set being located at an angleof forty-five degrees to the plane of the door.

5. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a door therefor,of means for supporting said door on said body; and means for adjustingthe door inwardly and outwardly relatively to its seat, and comprising aplurality of sets of devices, one set located at the outer side of thepivotal connection of the supporting means with the body, and the otherset located at the inner side thereof, the devices of each set beinglocated diagonally to the plane of the door.

6. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a door therefor,of means for supporting said door on said body; and means for adj nstingthe door inwardly and out wardly relatively to its seat, and comprisinga plurality of sets of set-screws, one set located at the outer side ofthe pivotal connection of the supporting means with the body, and theother set located at the inner side thereof, the set-screws of each setbeing located at an angle of forty-five degrees to the plane of thedoor.

7. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of a hinge for said door, and means comprising a plurality of sets ofdevices carried by a bearing-sleeve of said hinge for adjusting the doorinwardly and outwardly whereby the plane of the door may be adjustedrelatively to its seat.

8. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of a crane hinge member pivotally secured to said body, and having apair of forwardlyextending arms; a rod connecting said arms at theirouter ends, and forming a handle for swinging the door; said'door havingpivotal connection with the arms of said hinge member intermediate saidhandle and the pivotal connection of said hinge withthe body and in aline located substantially centrally of the door, whereby the door canbe started at all points simultaneously.

9. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of a hinge pivotally connected to said door and body, and meanscooperating with the pivotal connection between the door and body foradjusting the door inwardly and outwardly whereby the plane of the doormay be adjusted relatively to its seat.

10. The combination, with a safe or vault, and with a door therefor, ofa hinge member having a sleeve; a pivot connecting such sleeve with thebody; a bearing member or block located intermediate said sleeve andpivot; bearings intermediate said bearing member and pivot; and meansengaging said bearing member, and comprising two sets of devices, onelocated at the inner side of said pivot and the other at the outer sidethereof, and efiective to adjust the door inwardly and outwardly 11. Thecombination, with a safe or vault body, and with 'a door therefor, of ahinge member having a sleeve; a pivot connecting such sleeve with thebody; a bearing member or block located intermediate said sleeve andpivot; bearings intermediate said bearing member and pivot; and meansengaging said bearing member, and comprising two sets of devices, oneset located at the inner side of, and the other set at the outer sideof, said pivot, the devices of each set being located at an angle offorty-five degrees to the plane of the door.

12. The combination, with a safe or vanlt body, and with a doortherefor, of means for supporting said door on said body; and meanscomprising a pair of devices for limiting the: movement of the doorrelatively to said sup- 1 porting means.

13. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a doortherefor, of means for supporting said door on said body and meanscomprising a pair of devices located one at each side of the pivotalconnection of the door with said supporting means for limiting themovement of the door relatively to said supporting means.

14:. The combination, with a safe or vault body, and with a doortherefor, of a crane hinge member for supporting said door on said body;means comprising a pair of set-screws located one at each side of thepivotal connection of the door with said hinge for limiting the movementof said door relatively to said hinge member.

15. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of ahinge member pivotally secured to said body and having a pair offorwardly-extending arms, and means located adjacent to the outer endsof said arms and efiective to start the door open, said door havingpivotal connection with the arms of said hinge member intermediate thestarting-open means and the pivotal connection of said hinge member withthe body and in a line located substantially centrally of the doorwhereby the door is started open at all points simultaneously.

16. The combination, with a safe or vault body and with a door therefor,of a crane hinge member pivotally secured to said body and having a pairof forwardly-extending arms; starting-open means comprising a rodrotatably supported adjacent to the outer ends of said arms, one or moreeccentricallyoperative devices carried by said rod, and a device securedto said rod for rotating it, said door having pivotal connection withthe arms of said hinge member intermediate said starting-open means andthe pivotal connection of said hinge with the body and in a line locatedsubstantially centrally of the door whereby the door is started open atall points simultaneously.

17. A safe or vault hinge comprising a crane member having a pair ofsleeves for the reception of one or more pivots; means for adjustingsaid crane member relatively to the body of a safe, and comprising twosets of devices, one set located at the outer side of one sleeve, andthe other set located at the inner side of the other sleeve, the devicesof each set being located at an angle of forty-five degrees to the planeof the door; and means carried by said crane member for limiting themovement of the door.

18. A safe or vault hinge comprising a crane member having a pair ofsleeves for thereception of one or more pivots; means for adjusting saidcrane member relatively to the body of a safe, and comprising two setsof devices, one set located at the outer side of one sleeve, and theother set located at the inner side of the other sleeve, the devices ofeach set being located at an angle of forty-five degrees to the plane ofthe door; and means carried by said crane member for limiting themovement of the door, and comprising a pair of set-screws located one ateach side of the pivotal connection of said crane member with the door.

19. A safe or vault hinge comprising a crane member havingforwardly-extending arms and one or more sleeves for the reception of abody-pintle; means for adj usting said crane member relatively to saidpintle; means located adjacent to the outer ends of said arms forstarting the door open; and means located intermediate the starting-openmeans and the door-adjusting means for limiting the movement of the doorrelatively to said hinge.

20. Asafe or vault hinge comprisingacrane member having a pair ofsleeves for the reception of one or more body-pintles, and also having apair of forwardly-extending arms; means for adjusting said crane memberrelatively to said pintle or pintles, and comprising two sets ofdevices, one set located at the outer side of one sleeve and the otherlocated at the inner sideof the other sleeve, the devices of each setbeing located at an angle of forty-five degrees to the plane of saidcrane member; starting-open means comprising a rod carried at the outerends of said arms,-

eccentrically-operative devices carried by 1 said rod, and a device forrotating said rod; said arms having sleeves located intermediate saidstarting-open means and the door-adj usting means for the reception of adoor-pintle; and a pair of set-screws located one at each side of saiddoor-pintle for limiting the movement of the door relatively to saidcrane member.

21. The combination, with a safe or vault tially centrally of the door,whereby the door can be started open at all points simultaneously; meanscarried by the hinge and efiective when shifted into contact with thedoor to overcome friction, inertia, and air-pressure of the door andstart all parts of said door from the jamb at the same time; and meansconnected with said hinge for swinging the door, with the grasping partthereof located relatively remote to the pintle connecting said doorwith the crane member.

HENRY D. HIBBARD. Witnesses:

G. A. WEED, CHARLES FINKLER.

